You Be The Chemist

The United Nations has declared 2011 "The International Year of Chemistry" (IYC) and for those twelve months the international community will focus on increasing public appreciation of chemistry, encouraging interest in chemistry among young students, and generating enthusiasm for the future of chemistry.

 

Brenntag North America has helped promote the future of chemistry by its active involvement with You Be The Chemist (YBTC).  The YBTC Challenge is designed as a question-and-answer competition similar in format to a spelling bee.  Students in grades 5 through 8 answer questions about important chemistry concepts, historical discoveries, and safety awareness.  The competition starts at the local level with students vying for a chance to win a trip to a National Competition.

 

Brenntag North America, Brenntag Great Lakes and Brenntag Specialties have each sponsored challenges with great success from several local schools in states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Jersey.  Parents, teachers, school administrators and students all come together to support their local community.

 

And Brenntag Pacific used The International Year of Chemistry to debut YBTC in the great state of California.  The challenge began in February in San Gabriel, CA and started with a qualifying group of 24 students from St. Anthony's competing through four rounds of questions, with two tie breaker rounds needed to determine the top four students to advance to the State Challenge.  The four winners were all 8th grade students, with one young lady scoring just shy of a perfect score on all four rounds! 

 

Students advance to the California State Challange  (from L to R) Jessica Duong, Pauline Ma, Zabreena Flores, and Allison Nguygen   Congratulations Ladies !!

 

 

State Challenges took place in May, with students studying harder than ever for the chance to be the one state winner who would travel to Philadelphia for Nationals.  Both Brenntag Great Lakes and Brenntag Specialties each had a student advance to win their respective titles for the states of WI and NJ.

 

On June 20th The National Constitution Center hosted close to 150 attendees among the chemical industry, educators, participating students and family members for the 2011 National You Be The Chemist Challenge.  Nineteen students from around the country battled through seven thrilling rounds of tough questioning.  An 8th grader from Evans City, PA won the title of National Challenge Champion.  Runners up were from Bedford, MA; Des Plaines, IL and Brea CA.  All top four placing participants received scholarships for future educational use.

 

National Champion, Andrew Lingenfelter, congratulated by Brenntag Representatives Chet Murphy, Michele Margherita and David Garner

 

 

Participants, teachers and family members attended various activities while in the Philadelphia area, such as a tour of the Chemical Heritage Foundation, as well as a planetarium show and exploration exhibits at the Franklin Institute. All associated events were organized by the Chemical Educational Foundation and were sponsored by various organizations.  Brenntag was one of several Gold Sponsors for the National Challenge.

 

In 2003, The Chemical Educational Fundation (CEF) created the You Be The Chemist Challenge as a fun and innovative academic competition that engages young students in learning about the science of chemistry. Challenge question-and-answer competitions take place across the country, encouraging the collaboration of community organizations, schools and the chemical industry to work together to educate students about the value and benefits of chemistry.  There are close to 40 local challenges held throughout the year.  Brenntag is proud to participate in this exciting program, sponsoring Challenges in the states of California, Kentucky, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

 

Brenntag Contact for YBTC Challenge: Bryan Page

 

For further information about the You Be the Chemist Challenge please click on this youtube link.